Something I've become quite interested in recently is a luxury I take for granted: the importance of a quiet creative space. Regardless of who we are and where we come from it's so easy to let the hustle and bustle of everyday life and the social nature we all share in common to make us forget who we are to, ignore that inner, unstoppable creature called the thoughts and the spirit of the emotions to just keep pushing forward. Sometimes ignoring it is necessary: for survival, for practicality, to stop from compromising that thing that deep down inside we're all afraid of: not pleasing others but listening to it is just as necessary for the reasons above plus sanity (at least sometimes). This especially seems the case in urban environments where everything's so much about keeping up with a quick pace and high demands that it becomes way too easy to put on a metaphorical blinder and just keep moving forward while forgetting who we really are. This is why I think that temporary, quiet solitary rest and thinking time is good for people, you're reminded who you are and you can face every demand within your heart, mind, and body and be reminded of what's really important and knowing yourself means being able to think clearly and know what your strengths, weaknesses, and greatest metaphorical weapons are in both good and bad times.
Our world is so hectic and fast moving and it's up to us to make it slow down otherwise we'll exhaust ourselves and drive ourselves crazy. Some of the greatest creative thinking I've ever done has been when I was one with my notebook or computer with no other outside interferences. The group gives you a purpose, a deadline, a reason, a structure and a human voice to respond to what you want and what you are attempting to pursue and provide sanity and all those other extremely important emotions and is always needed but everyone with very few exceptions but the solitary moment is golden because it is meditative silence. With the solitary you're the boss and the pressure disappears even if it is part of a structured responsibility. It's so easy to be influenced by the words and vibe of a larger group and in those circumstances without prior preparation it's as if without any awareness whatsoever the line between what is and isn't ours gets blurred and it becomes some sort of pressure filled competition of who can sound and be the brightest and captivate everyone's attention.
Over the past year I came to terms with my own "quiet". I realized that my brightest best moments came within a group creative space came when I had time to think things through in advance in a solitary meditative space and that the greatest joy came from taking that solitary work and reflection and sharing it with people who assumed incorrectly that my lightbulb moment came from very little thought only seconds later who were willing to listen to my careful constructions of thought. When suddenly life wasn't an endless children's camp where everyone was expected to endure extremely long periods of people and group stimulation without exhaustion I felt I had found my paradise. Coming to terms with my "quiet" meant I didn't have to prove myself and justify my silence and solitary moments to anyone, which is important. It closely ties into something I greatly value and endlessly pressure everyone I care about to do: to come to terms with anything that makes them who they are that they can't get rid of or run away from. When I came to terms with "quiet" I found myself going towards things I was more comfortable with and before I knew it I had my favourite theatre festival wanting to hire my as an intern to do research, a good balance of solitary and people sharing that was perfect for me about something I was genuinely passionate about and my campus newspaper wanting me to be one of their editors (see above). Life is all about balance and finding it without having more than I can handle of one side of the scale meant I could find more ways to find multiple settings that qualify as that quiet creative space and then share it with people: something I greatly value and need to thrive in any setting. People should never let go of their creative space and no matter who we are we have them. It's something that at that moment is ours mentally without outside interference, that embodies things reflective of who we are that we're willing to celebrate, that remind us of the inner good and the inner bad, without celebrating or expressing hatred towards the good or the bad. Never let that creative space go...